Hey everyone,

I have been having so much fun visiting our TNM groups all across the province the last few months, and can’t wait to visit more! Meeting so many of you already and seeing the great work you all continue to do in your communities is the best part of the work I get to do. 

Last week I got to visit our TNM group at Wellkin Child & Youth Mental Wellness! I had gotten the chance to visit their Youth Hub a couple months ago, and it was just so amazing to see how the group engages youth in their community through so many different activities! To learn more about the hub click here. 

From the start of the meeting to the end I was just so impressed. The youth facilitators begin the meeting with a land acknowledgement and recognize that this is just the first step to push for truth and reconciliation. They encouraged everyone at the meeting to continue to learn more, and recognized that it can be hard but that the greatest learning and change happens when we’re outside of our comfort zone. After the land acknowledgement, the youth facilitator also discussed pushing for equity for all. As a leader of colour, I was so proud to see these youth speak so candidly and honestly about the importance of equity for all communities. 

After our conversation on equity, we had a check in about what we’re most looking forward to this summer and I got to meet a special feline friend who goes by “Orange Juice” who spent the rest of the meeting with us and now I want to get a cat even more! 

I got to hear and see a glimpse of all the projects that this group works on, from creating videos to share with youth in the community about the work they do and hosting multiple virtual events for Children’s Mental Health Week, to building sensory walls in therapists’ rooms, to planning socially distanced walks in the future…. There is so much this group does, that I’m pretty sure I might have missed the numerous other projects they continue to work on! 

One thing that stood out to me instantly was how passionate and thoughtful the group was, and how they really value accessibility for all in their community. They really wanted to ensure that everyone in their community could participate in their programming while ensuring that COVID-19 stay at home orders were also being respected.  

Visiting these youth and seeing how supportive and encouraging their adult allies was so great,  and I can’t wait to see all the great work they continue to do! 

Thank you to the youth and adult allies for the warm welcome and for completely immersing me into the magic of your group. 

See you all soon on Zoom,

Fizza Abbas, Network Coordinator